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2pm New York, 23 Sept 2011: President Abbas just submitted his request for a Palestinian state to the Secretary General and made his speech at the General Assembly to a standing ovation. He said: “the loss of hope is the most ferocious enemy of peace…despair is the strongest ally of extremism”. Let’s keep hoping, signing, calling, and sending messages to make sure our voices are heard and all the nations can vote for Palestine!

12.00 New York, 23 Sept 2011: Avaaz members in New York are right now outside the UN delivering our 1 million strong petition (see above). Abbas is about to deliver his speech and debate on the Palestinian bid for statehood will be raging all day. Let’s keep the ramping up the pressure for a General Assembly vote and shaping the media narrative of this moment. Sign the petition and scroll down to take more action now!

MAKE AN URGENT CALL
Qatar and Saudi Arabia are, amazingly, lobbying to stop Palestine’s bid for statehood and opposing a vote for all nations in the General Assembly. Let’s flood them with calls asking them to stand with their neighbours and let the world vote!
Qatar (UN mission) — +1 (212) 486-9335, +1 (212) 486-9336
or send an email – qatar-e@qatarmission.org

Saudi Arabia mission to the UN – +1 (212) 557-1525 — then press “0″
or send an email – Saudi-mission@un.int

Despite clear statements that they support the move to Palestinian statehood, the UK and Germany are still on the fence about how they will vote. Let’s flood them with calls and emails in New York asking them to announce their support and push them to get the world to vote at the General Assembly!

For the UK UN Mission call: + 1 (212) 745 9200 or email: UK@UN.int
For the German UN Mission call: +1 (212) 940 04 00 or email: info@new-york-un.diplo.de

Here are some talking points to use as a guide when you make your call:

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
– we have had 40 years of occupation, repression, colonization
– decades of failed and fake peace talks
– now, freedom sweeping arab world – time for Palestine

THIS IS THE ONLY PATH TO PEACE
– decades of peace talks only lead to steady colonization
– for too long Jerusalem has held this process hostage
– this will balance the equation – two legitimate states each with international support

LET THE WORLD VOTE
– majorities of people everywhere and 2/3rds of world leaders support Palestine statehood
– US veto dominates Security Council, but General Assembly can declare a state
– Abbas must stand up to US pressure and take this to General Assembly

Remember to be polite — we’ll be far more convincing if we are reasonable and courteous. If you don’t get through, it probably means we’re jamming their lines — a good sign! Keep calling!

Most government offices work from 9am – 5pm. After your call, post a comment on the right to share your experience with others across the world in the live chat.

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Let’s increase our impact by calling other important countries, calling the media, or sending messages to leaders facebook or twitter pages. Below are the contact details of more key countries as well as some background info.

The US has been pressuring Security Council members Colombia, Bosnia, Nigeria and Gabon to vote against the bid there. But if it is taken to the General Assembly, the US cannot dominate the vote and these countries can vote with their conscience. Let’s flood them with calls and emails in New York asking them to announce their support and push them to get the world to vote at the General Assembly!

For the Bosnian Mission call: +1 (212) 751 90 15 or email: bihun@mfa.gov.ba
For the Colombian Mission call: +1 (212) 355 7776 or email: Colombia@colombiaun.org
For the Nigerian Mission call: +1 (212) 953-9130 or email: permny@nigeriaunmission.orgFor the Gabon Mission call: +1 (212) 686-9720

Portugal and Italy are opposing Palestinian statehood. Let’s flood them with calls and emails in New York asking them to support for this legitimate bid and push them to get the world to vote at the General Assembly! For the Italian Mission call: +1 (212) 486 9191 or e-mail: info.italyun@esteri.it
For the Portuguese Mission email:Portugal@un.int

The US is on an all out campaign to block this vote. Let’s flood them with calls and emails in New York to show the massive global public opposition to their tactics and asking them to stop holding this process hostage and let the world vote at the General Assembly!

For the US UN mission call: +1 212-415-4062 or send an email using their webform: http://archive.usun.state.gov/Issues/Contact2.html

Yesterday President Obama signed a $59 billion measure, which provides money for 30,000 additional troops for the surge in Afghanistan. It has become apparent that many innocent lives have been lost in Afghanistan however the main media does seem to be suppressing any and all graphical evidence of these deaths.

Further to a report published on Youtube in March 2009 highlighting how potentially over $100 Billion of reconstruction money has disappeared, the BBC today covered the issue highlighting 96% of the money has disappeared.
A US federal watchdog has criticised the US military for failing to account properly for billions of dollars it received to help rebuild Iraq.

The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says the US Department of Defence is unable to account properly for 96% of the money.

Out of just over $9bn (£5.8bn), $8.7bn is unaccounted for, the inspector says.

The US military said the funds were not necessarily missing, but that spending records might have been archived.

In a response attached to the report, it said attempting to account for the money might require “significant archival retrieval efforts”.

Reconstruction money

Much of the money came from the sale of Iraqi oil and gas.

Some frozen Saddam Hussein-era assets were also sold off.

The funds in question were administered by the US Department of Defence between 2004 and 2007, and were earmarked for reconstruction projects.

But, the report says, a lack of proper accounting makes it impossible to say exactly what happened to most of the money.

This is not the first time that allegations of missing billions have surfaced in relation to the US-led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.

No-one from the Iraqi government was immediately available for comment.

Link to BBC story covering the issue.

The Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an annual, unofficial, invitation-only conference of around 130 guests, most of whom are people of influence in the fields of politics, banking, business, the military and media. Each conference is closed to the public and the press.

The Times recent article “Shadowy Bilderberg group meet in Greece — and here’s their address”

Wikipedia overview